AGACA is the umbrella organisation representing and promoting commercial agri-food co-operative businesses and companies across multiple sections of the economy in Galicia –an autonomous community of Spain located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula.

AGACA’s central office is in Santiago de Compostela, the regional capital.

It has two delegations in the cities of Lugo and Ourense. AGACA’s activities are carried out at the regional, national, and international level.

It is a member of the central umbrella body of co-operatives at the national level (Agri-food Cooperatives Spain) and European one (COGECA -General Committee for Agricultural Co-operation in the European Union).

AGACA’s core business is to provide vision, leadership, and value to the Galician agri-food co-operatives, using a collective voice to put the needs of their member co-ops to the forefront, to their strengthening in today’s ever-changing and competitive market.

AGACA is a non-profitable and non-governmental entity established in 1988. It serves 120 coops that collectively have over 34,000 individual members, directly employ more than 1,000 people in Galicia and have a combined turnover of approximately €2 billion.

AGACA today serves the co-operative industry in 5 core categories, namely:

• Multipurpose dairy co-ops
• Livestock sector co-ops
• Winery co-ops
• Horticulture co-ops
• Store and trade coops

The core services offered by AGACA are the following:

• Lobbying & representation
• Co-operatives’ development
• Business, financial, juridical, labour and accounting consultancy; information, management and negotiation of grants requested by co-operatives and their members; coordination and involvement in European Union-funded programmes
• Elaboration and publication of socio-economic reports on agriculture and agri-food co-operatives
• Training & Education: Members of co-ops (farmers), employees, managers, and chief of board of directors’ training; Organization of professional congresses and seminars
• Technical engineering and environmentally sustainable projects; hazard analysis and critical control points, HACCP
• Industry expertise: Services related to quality, traceability and food safety, Technical and economic consultancy to farmers; Consultancy and support on farming machinery parks on a co-operative basis
• Communication: Publication of the specialised magazine “Cooperación Gallega”, social media and website

When carrying out activities, promotion of the values of the co-operatives (International Co-operative Alliance, ICA) such as democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, concern for community or education, training, and information.

To better understand what AGACA is, let us clarify what a co-operative is: a company owned and controlled by its user members. It operates for the benefit of its user members. In Spain, agri-food co-operatives members are farmers. Nowadays, farms and co-operatives face severe problems related to generational renewal as the young people do not want to continue the work of the previous generations due to the alleged lack of attractiveness and opportunities offered by this type of work. In this way, AGACA promoted the Co-operatives’ Youth Committee and regularly organises initiatives in collaboration with VET schools. 

AGACA set up the Galician Association of Women in Co-operatives “Nós, as Mulleres” in 2019. Its primary goals are to empower women in farming, as well as to encourage greater competitiveness. Youngsters and women both initiatives mainly focus on depopulation of the rural areas and preserving the environment and cultural heritage.